Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station, often called Penn Station, is a main intercity rail station in New York City. It is the busiest public transport hub in the Western Hemisphere. Penn Station is in the midtown area of Manhattan, close to Herald Square, the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and the Macy's department store. Entirely underground, it sits beneath Madison Square Garden, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue and between 31st and 34th Streets. Penn Station has 21 tracks alongside the New York City, making it the largest one in Americas. Future plans involve the Moynihan Station which is a newer one and the Gateway Project of which it would be the second high-speed rail to reach the top speeds of 300km/h. Farley Post Office In the early 1990s, the then New York Senator Daniel Moynihan announced plans to convert portions of the James Farley Post Office, at 40°45′4.4″N 73°59′42.64″W, to a train station. Opened in 1912, soon after the original Pennsylvania Station, the landmark building is the city's main post office. It stands across from Penn Plaza and is built over tracks approaching the station from the west. The project languished for almost two decades, until the final chunk of the $267 million in funding for the first phase of the conversion was secured in early 2010. The phase will expand and improve the 33rd Street Connector between Penn Station and its West End Concourse. Located under the grand staircase of the post office, the concourse will be widened to serve nine of Pennsylvania Station's 11 platforms, and new street entrances will be opened from the southeast and northeast corners of the Farley building. Some $169 million provided by federal and state sources was already in place when a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant arrived in early 2010. A ceremonial groundbreaking and signing for the $83 million in funds took place in October. Penn Station South Plans call for Penn Station South to be located on the block south of the current New York Penn Station at 31st Street and diagonally across Eighth Avenue from the post office, on land which is currently privately held. While the PANYNJ had been acquiring land for ARC along its route, acquisition south of the station has not begun. It is likely the entire block would be razed and made available for highrise construction after completion of the station. Plans call for seven tracks served by four platforms in what will be a terminal annex to the entire station complex. In April 2011 Amtrak requested $50 million in federal funding for preliminary engineering and environmental analysis. In 2014 it was estimated that it would cost $404 million to purchase 35 properties in order to build a new terminal at the location. Based on development guidelines from the New York City Planning Commission, it is estimated that at 2015 prices it would cost between $769 million and $1.3 billion to buy the block bounded to the north and south by 31st and 30th streets, and to the east and west by Seventh and Eighth avenues. Real estate prices are 2½ times higher now than they were in 2012 according to prominent real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. Railway services Amtrak *Acela Express to Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington *Adirondack to Montreal *Lake Shore Limited to Albany and Chicago *Maple Leaf to Albany and Toronto *Northeast Regional to Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington *Palmetto to Philadelphia and Colombia *Vermonter to New Haven and Springfield Long Island Rail Road * Babylon Branch to Babylon with connecting service to Montauk * Belmont Park Branch seasonal service to Belmont Park * City Terminal Zone with connecting service at Jamaica station * Far Rockaway Branch to Far Rockaway, Queens in New York City * Hempstead Branch to Hempstead * Long Beach Branch to Long Beach * Montauk Branch to Babylon and Montauk * Oyster Bay Branch to Oyster Bay * Port Jefferson Branch to Huntington and Port Jefferson * Port Washington Branch to Great Neck and Port Washington * Ronkonkoma Branch to Ronkonkoma and Long Island MacArthur Airport with connecting service to Greenport * West Hempstead Branch to Hempstead All branches connect at Jamaica station except the Port Washington Branch. Normally, the LIRR uses tracks 17–21 exclusively and shares 13–16 with Amtrak and NJT. New Jersey Transit *Montclair-Boonton Line to Montclair, and points west to Hackettstown *Morris and Essex Lines to Summit and Dover and points west to Hackettstown or the Gladstone branch. *Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton *North Jersey Coast Line to Long Branch, with connecting service to Bay Head *Raritan Valley Line to Raritan and High Bridge NJT normally has the exclusive use of tracks 1–4, and shares tracks 5–16 with Amtrak and tracks 13–16 with the LIRR as well. PATH *Some trains stop at 33rd Street station.